The truck speeds up to 50mph (80 km/h), hitting the barrier with immense force, about three times higher than what it takes to lift a Boeing 747. The barrier wobbles but doesn’t even budge, while the lorry’s engine block is squashed and the entire truck is basically destroyed.

Dean Alberson, a research engineer at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute said that the barrier is part of a project to protect international U.S. embassy bases; he also said that the safety of the driver is not a priority. The anti-ram vehicle barrier, which is being referred to simply as “bent pipe”, emerged unscathed from the test.